Far-right firebrand joins Olmert to shore up coalition

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EHUD OLMERT, the hard-pressed Israeli Prime Minister, moved to bolster his coalition yesterday by bringing aboard the party of a far-right firebrand who wants to cleanse the country of its Arab minority.

Mr Olmert’s Kadima party signed a pact with Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Lieberman, to pave the way for an expansion of the governing coalition and to underpin its wobbly foundations. Mr Olmert said that Mr Lieberman, 48, would be rewarded for his support with a key ministerial portfolio responsible for strategic threats to Israel, such as the looming nuclear crisis with Iran.